Family
by MirrorLe
Summary: Charity convinces Anne to take a break from Phillip's bedside. (I'm not great at summaries and this is the first thing I've wrote in years)


Charity silently made her way down to the bottom of the ward. Even from the doorway she could see Anne was falling asleep, her hand still firmly entwined with Phillip's.

"Anne" she said softly, "How is he?"

"He woke up for a while earlier, the Doctor's seemed pleased with how he's doing"

"That's good, WD's waiting for you in the hallway. I'll stay with him until you've rested"

"I can't leave him" Anne told her.

"Anne, do it for Phillip's sake. He'll need you when the Doctor's say he's well enough to leave. You need to go home, eat and sleep"

"I don't have a home anymore Mrs Barnum…." Anne whispered.

Charity inwardly cursed her words. "Phinn has arranged lodgings for you all, WD is outside. I've given him some clothes and other things for you. Please Anne..."

"I'll go" Anne replied reluctantly. "If anything changes, will you send someone for me?"

"Of course, I won't leave him until you get back"

Anne's leant over and kissed Phillip softly on the lips, whispering something into his ear that Charity couldn't hear. Standing up, she attempted to straighten her still sooty dress. "Thank you, Mrs Barnum." she said before reluctantly making her way out of the hospital ward. Casting one final look at Phillip as she walked out the door to where WD was waiting.

Charity placed her shawl on the chair Anne had just vacated and sat on the bed next to Phillip. She gently brushed away the wayward strands from his forehead, frowning at the sight of the raw wound on the left-hand side.

"Anne?" Phillip mumbled sleepily.

"No, it's me Phillip"

"Charity?" he asked, slowly opening his eyes to look at her.

Charity smiled and gently cupped his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

Phillip opened his mouth to answer her but found himself overtaken by a coughing fit.

The smile quickly left Charity's face, looking round for a nurse she breathed a sigh of relief as one of the younger nurses quickly made her way down the ward, basin in hand.

Between the two of them, they eased Phillip into a sitting position and the nurse silently placed the basin in front of him.

"Try to cough it up Mr Carlyle" the nurse said gently, "just like the Doctor told you"

Phillip nodded and Charity's heart ached for the younger man sitting in front of her as he struggled to breathe and cough at the same time. Mindful of the injuries she couldn't see, she clapped him on the back and was relieved then Phillip finally managed to cough up what was aggravating his chest, spitting it into the basin.

The nurse smiled at him softly, removed the basin and made her way back across the ward.

Phillip swayed in the bed, still wheezing and Charity gently pulled him against her, resting his head against her shoulder. "Shhhhhh" she whispered in his ears, gently rubbing his back. "Just take small breaths"

"Sorry" he rasped.

"It's alright Lip"

Phillip smiled slightly at the use of the nickname Caroline and Helen had given him and eventually got his breathing back to normal.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked softly stroking his hair.

Phillip nodded and raised his head to look at her. "Anne?" he asked.

"She's gone to rest and get changed"

"The girls?"

"They're both well, they're worried about you" she replied, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "When Phinn carried you out, I thought we'd lost you. The girls were there, Caroline was screaming at the stretcher bearers to look after her brother..."

Charity could see the tears welling up in Phillips eyes. He looked so vulnerable, so much younger than his years. Caroline and Helen had adored Phillip from the minute he had walked into their lives. She smiled at the memory of the girls rushing into his arms on the day he announced the circus had received an invite from Queen Victoria. The joy in their faces on the Sunday's when he arrived to take them out for the day whilst Phinn had been away. Selflessly giving up his one day off a week from work to give her a break. Philip had become family, entertaining the girls and supporting her as much as he had the Circus during the long months her husband had been gone.

"You are part of our family Phillip" she told him, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you. Bring the girls tomorrow, they'll liven the place up"

"I'll try" she told him, Charity could see that he was struggling to stay awake and eased him back down onto the bed. He looked at her through half lidded, blue eyes and smiled softly as she tucked the blankets around him.

"Sleep well our darling boy" she told him, easing herself back into the chair, taking his hand in hers as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


End file.
